Frame construction for surface cultivators



Mmh 4:so 1926. l 1,578,931

L. J. sMAlL FRAME CDNSTRUCTION FOR SURFACE CULTIVATORS vMmh 30,1926.

' L. J. sMAlL. A

FRAME CONSTRUCTION Fon SURFACE cuLTrvA'roRs Filed Nov. a, 1921 2 sheets-S'eet 2 Inventar pensive mechanism Patented Mar. so, 192e.

l UNITED STATES LEBBEUS J. SMAIL, OF COFFEE CREEK, MONTANA.

IRAME CONSTRUCTION Fore. SURFACE cUL'rIvATons.,

Application filed November 8, 1921. Serial No. 513,832.

To all whom 'it may concern.:

Be it known thatiI, LniiniiUs J'. SMAU., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Coffee Creek, in the county of: Fergus and State of Montana, have invented a'certain new and useful Frame .Construction for Surface Cultivators, of which the following f is a specification.

The object of my invention is to lprovide a simple, durable and comparatively inexwhich is especially adapted to till the soil for the purpose of preserving moisture and also for destroying weeds. y A f A further object is to provide a cultivator mechanism provided with 'a series of blades so arranged and carried by suitable mechanism 1n such afmanner that the blades may be operated at a slight distance belowy the ground surface for the purpose offcutting all weeds' which they engage, and kalsofor the purpose of loosening the surface to form a mulch, thel blades being so arranged that they may do a maximum ainountfof'work with a minimumamount of sharpening and also may be drawn through the earth with a minimum amount of power.

A further object is to lprovide in a cultivating device having substantially horizontally arranged Vsurface blades, v*improved means for mounting the blades so' they may be made to automatically follow the irregu-Y larities of the earth surface to be cultivated. i Theseand .other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention'consi'sts in the construction,

i arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained,as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed outin my claims, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which: 'Y

Figure 1 is an isometrical view of improved cultivating device.

Figure 2 is a "rear elevation ofthe same showing how the deviceis adapted tofollow unevenv surfaces.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional plan view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail plan sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view taken through one of the `weeding blades showin@ the manner in which it entere the groun surface'l f A Y. to be elevated orjlOWer'ed. l myl My improved device comprises a frame provided with an larch member vhaving a horizontal member 1Q andl vertical members 1.1, the members 1-1 being heldagainst movement relative ,to the'meinber lOby means of Secured [near the upper end of each of the members 11,1 have provided a bracket 13l which extends rearwardly and is designed to receive a vertically arranged shaft lower end mounted in a bracket 15 secured adjacent to the outer face of the .lower vend of themember v1l by means of suitable rivf ets. The bracket lois also provided'with a downwardly extending portionl fory the purpose of receiving a cutting blade 17.

v Slidably and ypivotally mounted `on each 14 which extends downwardly 'having its y of the shafts-14,between the members 13 i and 15,71 have provided a bracket-*18 havingy forked members 19 lbetween whichis mountbracket 18 isprovided with a slot 22 which is designed to'receive a bracket 23 slidably mounted on the shaft 14. The bracket 23 is pivotally mounted to a yoke y24 which ved a wheel 20 by meansu of an axle 21.- #The extends upwardly at a vpoint above thev f bracket 13, the said yoke being 4'pivotally mounted to a lever 25 which is in turn pivoted to'a bracket 26 mounted onthemember 10. Thebracket 26 is provided' with a sector 27 which is engaged by the pawl 28 of the ysaid lever125, the said levers 25 extend to- Vward each other and are substantially parallel with thezinember y10 and terminate'a-t a point substantially beneath each4 side of a 'by operating fthe leverw25,"the bracket 23 Ymay be slid upwardly and downwardlyon the, shaft14 and will cause the memberV 11 Each of the membersfll-fis providedat its upper end with a brace bar 31. These -brace bars extend forwardly and aresecured to the upper end of a vertically arranged bar 32. The upper end of said bar 32 is also se- 30. Auxiliary brace bars 33 are provided Vwhich are securedto the upper end of the cured to the forward'end of the member behind the members 11.

Secured beneath the shovel 35, l have provided the forward end of the bladesl 17 which are also inclined and'y placed in an angular position relative to each other and relative tothe framemember 10,-the blades 17 being designed to lie substantially horizontal with their cutting edges incl-ined downwardly and forwardly. A shaft 3S is mounted back of the member 82 and parallel therewith by suitable brackets secured to the Ysaid member 32.'

' A'wheelbracket 37 similar tothe bracket 18v is slidablyzmounted on said shaft 36, the said bracket being operated byl means of a slideBS pivotally seeuredto a yolrc 39 similar to the yoke 24. The yoke 39 is 'pivotally connected to the"` forward end of a lever 40, said lever being' pivoted to a' bracketl 41 mounted in the' upper face l.of the nie'mbc* 30. The said bracket 41 is providedv with ai sector 42 whichl is for the purpose of locking the levierv 40 inany desired position by means of a suitable pawl similar tothe pawl 28'.

Pivotally secured to the forward edge of the' bar" 32', I have provided a hitch bar having .a series of openings 44, said openings being' designed to receive a pin of a suitable clevisto whichA the draft bar of anyy suitable power'nnay be appliedf lThe openings 44: provide means whereby the hitch may be raised or lowered to meet the requirements when the devicey isv in operation under various concilition.

Secured near the bottom portion of the member 32, I' have provided wing` members 4'5 which are for the purpose of guiding weeds and drawing them. to one side so as to not be wound in the wheel 46 mounted inthe bracket 37. v r

Secured to they lower'end of each of the `members l1, I have provided a guard 47 which is for the purpose of separating.k the cut weeds from the uncut weeds7 this device being -cle-arly shown in Figure 4 of the drawings.

By thisarrangement, it will be seen that I have provided a triangular frame complrisingy the memberslO, 11', 31,32 and 33 and also the blades 17.- This fra-me is mounted onr three wheels, thel wheel 46 ati a point behind the member 32 andi the wheels 2O Each of the said wheels is adjustably mounted on the frame independent of eachother soI that the' blades 17 may be made to assume any desired angle relative to the ground surface.

The operation ofv my improved weeder is substantially as follows:

The hitch may be applied to any one of the openings 44 to meet the requirements, depending on whether it is desired to run the' point 35 shallow or deep. A tongue may be appliedI tothe up er end` of: the member 43 if it' is desired. T is is of the usual construction and is not shown in the drawings.

lf the vdevice is to be operated over comparatively level surface, the lever 40 is so adjusted that the point 35 will run beneath the ground surface the` desired depth, while the levers 25 are so adjusted that the bach ends of the blades 17 will run substantially the same depth, if the device has a tendency torun out of the ground and the lever 40 is adjusted to permit the members'45 'to run a slightly gieateijj' depth than the back ends of blades; 17.- This will provide sii-lieient suction so thatthe blades will beheld in the' groundik As the machine is advanced, all weeds will be cut ofif below the surface.l that fall within thel path of the blades 17.

By arranging the wheel 46 behind the bar 32,' it will be seen that the weeds'are cut before they a-re run dow-n bythe said wheel;

By mounting the blades in the manner as set forth and uponl the triangular frame, it is possible for the blades 17 to operate over irregular surfaces, such asshown in Figure 2.

lf `it is desired to cnt the weeds on a ridge, the forward wheel 46 is run longitudinally with the crest of the yridge, while the wheels 20 will followv the inclined-sun face permitting the bladesk 17- to `arrange themselves substantially parallel with the surface.. V

lf it is desired'to cultivate or remove the weeds from a ditch or furrow, the shovell is movedV longitudinally with the lowest part of the furrow and the blades 17hwi-ll assume the positionshown in? dotted lines in Figure 2.

lfit is desi-red toy move the cultivator from' one lield'to-anothenxthe levers-'25 and 40 may beso operated that the blades 17 will beliftedi above the ground: surface.7 As clearly shown in Figure 5,? the blades 17 are placed at an inclined positionv relative to Ythe: ground surface, so that a suctionl is formed.v Villen the said: bladesf arefor'ced beneath .the ground,-it will be seenthatY a certain: amount of downward pressureais impartedto the This pressure may be carried .my intention to build the machine in various sizes either for use with tractors or to be drawn by a team of horses, and? further: to be built so as to be drawn by a` single horse and adapted to be operated between corn rows for cultivating corn after it isA too big n it will be seen that the blades may be adjusted to follow these hills without being run deep enoughl to cut the roots of the corn,`

I claim as my invention: l. In a device'of the class described, an arch member comprising a horizontal portion and downwardly extendingiportions, a

V-shaped horizontally and forwardly ex? tended frame member secured tothe upper ends of thedownwardly extending portions of ,said arch member, a downwardlyV exL ber, the last said downwardly extending portions alsokbeing provided with braces connecting the horizontal portionsof said arch member, two of the members for attaching the said cutters-being provided with rearwardly extendingiportions having verticalf openings, the upper end of each of the downwardly extending portions of said arch member being provided with rearwardly extend ing portions having vertical yopenings vin alinement with the openings of thefrearwardly extending portion belowffor receiving arvertical shaft, the forwardedgeof the ydownwardly extending portion of they apex end of said V-shaped frame member being provided with a pair of forwardly ex- A tending portions, each of whichis provided witha vertical opening, said openings being 1n alinement, y

2. In combination, a horizont-al V-shaped' frame having at each cornera downwardly extending portion, means for connecting blades lto the lower ends of said downwardly extending portions, caster wheels pivotally mounted to each of said downwardly extending portions, aclever device for independently raising and lowering each of said caster wheels relative to lsaid downwardly extending portion, and a hitch pivotally connected to one of' said downwardly extending portions. Y

3. In combination, a horizontal V-shaped frame having at each corner, a downwardly y extending portion, means for connectingVv Y blades to the lower ends of said downwardly extending portions, caster wheels pivotally mounted to each of said downwardly extend l ing portions, a lever device for independently raising and lowering each of said caster c wheels relative to said downwardly` extendf ing'po'rtion, a hitch pivotally connected to one of said downwardly extending portions, a seat mounted on said rV-shaped frame, all of said levers being arranged so that their free ends are adjacent'to said seat.

LEBBEUs J. sMArL. 

